Influence of polysaccharides with different chemical character on stability of montmorillonite suspensions in the presence of pseudoamphoteric cocamidopropyl betaine

Mixtures of the cationic starch (CS), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and guar gum (GG) with the pseudoamphoteric surfactant -cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) were used as stabilizers of aqueous suspensions of clay mineral (CM) of montmorillonite type (MMT). The spectrophotometric method (UV-VIS) was used in to estimate the mechanism of the polysaccharide/CAPB/MMT systems stabilization. Additionally, surface tension measurements were performed to investigate the interactions between the polymers and the surfactant and the complex formation. In order to obtain complete information about the studied systems: FT-IR, XRD, SEM as well as porosity measurements were also performed for polymer/clay mineral system as well as of those in the presence of surfactant. The results show that the MMT suspensions can be successfully stabilize using chosen polysaccharides (CS, CMC and GG) able to be adsorbed on the MMT surface. The best stability of the studied suspensions was obtained with a small concentration of polysaccharides (2 ppm) and a small amount of CAPB (0.04%). It seems that this surface active agent can be the ideal option for industrial applications because its small concentration ensures very large stability of the MMT/polysaccharide suspensions.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.